ArcaMax

These are responses from the largest population represented in the survey, single parents whose children were at home. Confession: The issues in this section are intricate (and numerous) because of my own years as a single mom. They are irreplaceable in my memory, a learning experience never to be forgotten. (Sigh.) Onward:

--Are you more ...Read more

DEAR HARRIETTE: I'm confused and honestly a little heartbroken. My sister and I grew up incredibly close -- practically joined at the hip. We talked every day and leaned on each other for everything, and I always felt like no matter what changed around us, we would stay the same. Ever since I moved away for a new job a few months ago, it feels ...Read more

DEAR MISS MANNERS: Help! My husband and I stayed at my parents' house and slept in their guest bedroom. Friends of theirs had gifted them with a terrible, but very expensive, mattress. It slopes severely toward the edges so that you feel like you're falling all night long, making sleep impossible.

My mom happened to ask if we liked the mattress...Read more

Dear Readers: Wishing you and all a very happy holiday season. Please enjoy the following poem.

"A Visit from St. Nicholas" by Clement Clarke Moore.

"'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house / Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse; / The stockings were hung by the chimney with care, / In hopes that St. Nicholas soon...Read more

DEAR ABBY: I'm an active senior man. To keep my beard looking attractive, a hairstylist trims it every two weeks. I've had the same stylist for three years, and we have become good friends, to the point that she has invited me to her home for an evening meal with her family. I have been there several times, but on the last occasion, she did ...Read more

DEAR HARRIETTE: I have a friend who is an immigrant, and he has been out of work for nearly two years. He has cobbled together enough money to scrape by, but if he doesn't find a job soon, I worry that he will lose his apartment. He has a few close friends, myself included, who have helped him whenever we can, but it's getting to be too much. I,...Read more

DEAR MISS MANNERS: Several years ago, a divorced woman exactly my age moved in next door. I liked her very much and tried to become friends with her.

Although she was chatty enough outside the house, she never invited me in, and the few times I invited her, she had other things to do. I eventually gave up and settled for the occasional brief ...Read more

Dear Annie: I am the default holiday host for my extended family. My parents are divorced and both come, my sister arrives late and stressed with her kids, my brother shows up with whatever new girlfriend he is serious about, and my mother uses the whole day to quietly criticize everyone's life choices, starting with mine.

By the time we sit ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: My sister, "Blanche," and I didn't grow up together after she turned 13. I was 6 at that time, and our grandmother raised her. We talked on the phone a lot until I was 45 and my husband died. Blanche then convinced me to move to her state. When I received the insurance payout, she talked me into buying a property with two houses -- ...Read more

DEAR HARRIETTE: I want to take a vacation with my best friend, but I don't have the money to do so right now, and I feel incredibly embarrassed about it. We typically take a trip together every year, and it's something we both look forward to because it helps us reconnect and make memories. This year, however, everything is different: I lost my ...Read more

DEAR MISS MANNERS: I was in line at a busy cosmetics store. The line wasn't moving very fast when the woman behind me asked me to save her place: She said an employee had forgotten to give her something, and she had to get it. I was approximately fifth in line and there were at least that many people waiting behind me.

I looked at the people ...Read more

Dear Annie: Lately, I feel like I am running everyone's life but my own.

I work full time, I have two school-aged kids, and my husband is a good man but seems to think the house, the calendar, the social life and the emotional needs of the whole family magically manage themselves. Spoiler alert: They do not. I do.

I am the one who remembers ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: My son has completely given up on dating. Whether it's blind dates, casual meetings with members from our church or dating events I pay for and make him go to, he still hasn't found a wife. At 36, he should already have children and a partner, but despite the best efforts of my wife and me, he remains unmarried.

Our son is 6 feet ...Read more

I think I saw my first TikToker in the wild.

For a split second, I thought it might be a politician filming a video. He wore a black vest, a burgundy shirt, and a cowboy hat, and he repeated the same forceful upward motion with his hand. He'd freeze, lean toward a phone on a stand, and do the same routine again.

He had an older white work ...Read more